Johnson Opens Door to a Trade

The catcher threw his best pitch Monday. As he greeted Randy Johnson during Monday’s All-Star festivities, Paul Lo Duca invited Johnson to join him in Dodger blue.

“Hey,” Lo Duca said, “do you want to come to L.A.?”

On the day before the All-Star game, a day traditionally devoted to pomp and circumstance and the absence of news, Johnson delivered a bulletin that could shift the balance of power in the major leagues: He is willing to waive his no-trade clause, interested in leaving the Arizona Diamondbacks so he might pitch again in the World Series.

“It’s going to have to be somewhere -- and, no, there’s no list of teams -- with a team that has a chance to win,” Johnson said.

Johnson, 40, said he had not demanded a contract extension in exchange for waiving his no-trade rights. He also said the Diamondbacks had not yet asked him whether he would waive those rights.

The Dodgers, Angels, Boston Red Sox, New York Mets and New York Yankees all are expected to pursue the five-time Cy Young Award winner. In the National League West, with the Dodgers, San Francisco Giants and San Diego Padres all within two games of the lead, or in the American League West, with the Angels, Texas Rangers and Oakland Athletics all within 2 1/2 games of the lead, Johnson could tilt a team toward October.

“I think it makes everybody else in your division say, ‘Uh-oh,’ ” Met pitcher Tom Glavine said. “I guarantee you, whatever team he goes to, everybody else in that division will look up and say, ‘Oh God.’ It automatically feels like your chances are diminished. He’s that kind of player.”

The Diamondbacks had insisted for weeks that they would not consider trading Johnson unless he asked them to do so. But they have the worst record in the major leagues, and Johnson said they might rebound more quickly by trading him.

“The only way that I would probably want to leave would be that I’m benefiting the Diamondbacks in leaving, and I think I would be doing that,” Johnson said, “because they wouldn’t have to pay my salary -- that could go toward helping somewhere else -- and because of the players they would get in return.”

The price to acquire Johnson would be high, in cash and in prospects. He earns $16 million this year and next, so a team trading for him by the July 31 deadline would owe him more than $21 million -- $5.3 million for the balance of this season’s salary and $16 million next season.

In return, the Diamondbacks want young, cheap players, close to the major leagues if not already there. In exploratory discussions, one baseball source said, the Diamondbacks asked the Angels for two of their top three prospects -- catcher Jeff Mathis and either first baseman Casey Kotchman or third baseman Dallas McPherson. Another source said Tuesday the Diamondbacks reportedly asked for all three.

Johnson said reports that he would require a contract extension to accept a trade were “absolutely incorrect.” He said he had not decided whether he wants to play beyond 2005. He also denied reports that he wanted to play for the Angels because he owns a home in Newport Beach.

In 1998, the Seattle Mariners traded him to the Houston Astros in a deadline deal. The Mariners did well, getting pitchers Freddy Garcia and John Halama and shortstop Carlos Guillen in return. The Astros did well too -- Johnson was 10-1, in what he called “the best two months of my career” -- before losing in the playoffs.

Johnson has pitched in the World Series once, when the Diamondbacks beat the Yankees in 2001.

“I don’t know that another Cy Young would mean as much to me as maybe getting an opportunity to win another World Series,” he said. “No disrespect to Cy Young, but I’ve got a few of those, and I had a lot more fun playing in a World Series.”

Johnson is 10-7 with a 2.99 earned-run average, including a perfect game against the Atlanta Braves in May. He leads the majors with 145 strikeouts, and opponents are hitting .188 against him.

Johnson spent plenty of time Monday dodging recruiting pitches from players on several teams and dodging questions about which team he might prefer to play for. He answered one inquiry about his memories of New York and Boston by joking, “I was really torn between Manhattan clam chowder and Boston clam chowder.”

With Glavine already serenading Johnson on behalf of the Mets, Alex Rodriguez on behalf of the Yankees and Curt Schilling on behalf of the Red Sox, Lo Duca said Johnson responded to his Dodger pitch with a weary smile.

“Enough of that stuff,” Johnson told Lo Duca. “That’s all I’ve heard today.”

Lo Duca, who has played in 575 games without appearing in the playoffs, heartily endorsed a pursuit of Johnson. Angel General Manager Bill Stoneman generally refuses to consider trading top prospects, but Dodger General Manager Paul DePodesta swapped two to the Cleveland Indians in April for outfielder Milton Bradley.

The Dodgers haven’t qualified for postseason play since 1996, and DePodesta has said Dodger fans deserve better than another year of building for the future. With Johnson putting himself on the trading block, Lo Duca said DePodesta could demonstrate that commitment by acquiring the ace.

“That would be a huge statement,” Lo Duca said. “He’s the No. 1 guy you would want.”